US STOCKS-S&P 500 set to open above 5,000 mark after revised inflation data
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PepsiCo drops on rare sales miss as price hikes dent demand
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Futures up: Dow 0.20%, S&P 0.28%, Nasdaq 0.37%
(Updated at 08:52 a.m. ET)
By Sruthi Shankar and Johann M Cherian
Feb 9 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 was set to open firmly above the 5,000 mark on Friday after data pointed to minimal revisions in last year's inflation figures, supporting expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
The S&P 500 surpassed the 5,000 mark on an intra-day basis for the first time on Thursday, but closed just shy of the level.
A string of positive earnings and optimism around artificial intelligence have pushed the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow to record levels this year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed less than 2% away from its peak on Thursday.
U.S. monthly consumer prices rose less than initially estimated in December, revised government data showed on Friday.
The consumer price index rose 0.2% in December instead of 0.3% as reported last month, annual revisions of the CPI data published by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. But data for November was revised up to show the CPI increasing 0.2% rather than 0.1% as previously estimated.
"I would say today's revisions are much more modest than they were last year," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth. "There's much less of an overarching concern in the marketplace about the actual data now that we know what the revised numbers look like."
Strong economic data and hawkish comments from Fed policymakers in recent weeks have pushed back traders' bets that the U.S. central bank will start cutting interest rates in March.
Investors are now awaiting January consumer prices data, scheduled for release next week, for a clearer picture of where rates are headed this year.
At 8:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 78 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 14.25 points, or 0.28%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 65.75 points, or 0.37%.
The three main indexes were set for their fifth consecutive week of gains as upbeat earnings reports offset jitters around the interest-rate path and concerns about U.S. regional banks' exposure to commercial real estate.
With the U.S. earnings season past the halfway mark, more than 80% of the S&P 500 companies topped profit estimates in the fourth quarter, according to LSEG data. In a typical quarter, 67% of companies beat estimates.
PepsiCo edged up 0.3% premarket after its fourth-quarter revenue fell short of estimates as multiple price hikes crimped demand for its juices and Lay's crisps.
Pinterest plunged 8.5% after it forecast first-quarter revenue largely below Wall Street estimates, a sign that it faces tough competition from larger social media players, even as the digital advertising market stabilizes.
Cloudflare rallied 24.0% as it forecast first-quarter revenue and profit above market estimates, betting on strong demand for its cloud and content delivery services.
Expedia fell 16% after the online travel platform warned revenue in 2024 would moderate as air ticket prices drop and said CEO Peter Kern was stepping down.
Crypto stocks such as Coinbase, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital rose between 8.7% and 11.9% as bitcoin, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency, hit its highest level since the launch of spot ETFs. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shounak Dasgupta)
